Piquerez



1956 E. PIQUEREZ FLUIDTIGHT WINDER FOR A TIMEPIECE F'IG.2

.. Filed March 21, 1955 United States atent Olhce FLUIDTIGHT WINDER FOR A TIMEIIECE Ervin Piquerez, Hesse-court, Switzerland Application March 21, 1955, Serial 495,431 Claims priority, application Switzerland April 13, 1954 11 Claims. (Cl. &-9il) My invention relates to a fiuidtight winder for a timepiece.

According to a main object of my invention, said winder includes a sleeve of deformable material housed between the crown or knob and the pendant, said sleeve being secured through a radial clamping of each of its ends against one of said cooperating members, the crown and the pendant, so as to form with the latter an annular chamber enclosing means for urging radially the medial section of the sleeve against the other member.

I have illustrated by way of example in accompanying drawings three preferred embodiments of my invention. In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a partial longitudinal cross-section, of a part of a watch winder.

Fig. 2 is a plan view on a smaller scale of a member incorporated into the winder.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a part of this member on a larger scale.

Figs. 4 and 5 are longitudinal sectional views, similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1, of two other embodiments.

The winding means illustrated in Fig. 1 include a projecting section or pendant 1 driven into the peripheral part 2 or case band of a watch case. The crown of the winding means secured to the rod 3 is designated by the reference number 4. An annularly recessed section 5 inside which the outer end 1:: of the projecting section is engaged is formed in said crown 4. The outwardly extending part In of the projecting section has a larger diameter than the main, inner part of the latter. A fluidtight sleeve 6 of a suitable deformable material such as the synthetic material sold in the trade under the registered trade name Teflon surrounds the said outwardly extending part 1a of the pendant 1; said sleeve is secured through both ends to the part In of the pendant of the winder.

For this purpose, two rings 7 and 3 are fitted round the ends of the sleeve respectively and urge them radially and inwardly towards the part 1a of the pendant. An annular clearance 9 is formed in said outer part In of the pendant and forms with the sleeve 6 an annular closed chamber inside which is housed a split elastic ring 10 having a square cross-section. Said ring has a tendency to open elastically and acts on the medial section 6a of the sleeve so as to deform the latter and to urge it outwardly against the inner lateral cylindrical surface of the wall 11 defining the annular recess 5 in the crown. The medial section 6a of the sleeve forms a bead in fluidtight contacting relationship with the wall 11. In order that the radial pressure exerted by the ring 10 on the sleeve may be perfectly continuous throughout its periphery, the two ends of the ring designated by 1011 and 10b overlap as shown in Fig. 3.

In the modified embodiment shown in Fig. 4 the sleeve 12 fitted over the terminal part 13a of the pendant 13 is held in position by two rings 14 and 15 and its medial section 12a assumes the shape of a bead. An annular clearance 16 is formed half-way up the outer surface 2,736,164 Patented Feb. 28, 1956 of the large diameter part 13a of the pendant and forms with the sleeve a chamber enclosing a solid ring 17 of compressible and elastic material engaged by the bead section 12:: of the sleeve. When the crown 18 of the winding means is fitted over the sleeve, the annular side wall 19 of its annular recess 20 exerts on the latter an inwardly directed radial pressure which slightly compresses the ring 17. The latter reacts elastically and urges the sleeve fiuidtightly against the wall 19. The sleeve 12 may be made as precedingly of any suitable plastic material, for instance that sold in the trade under the registered name Teflon and the ring 17 may be made of rubber; the use of rubber is made possible by the fact that said ring 17 is entirely enclosed inside the annular chamber which cuts out the well known drawbacks of such material.

Lastly. in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 5, the sleeve 21 is deformed by a compressible fiuid 22 introduced inside the annular chamber 23 formed round the outer part 24a of the pendant 2d, the fluid entering said chamber through a radial port 25' extending through the body of the pendant. An elastic ring 26 is housed in the inner part or bottom of the chamber 23 and is urged elastically against said bottom so as to close the radial port 25 after the fluid 22 has been introduced under pressure inside the chamber 23. The pressure exerted by the outlet wall 27 of the annular recess 2?? in the crown 29 on the sealing surface of the sleeve 2i has a tendency to compress the fluid 22 which urges elastically in its turn the sleeve against said wall 27. The fluid to be considered may be a gas such as air, a liquid or a compressible pasty material.

What I claim is:

1. In a watch, the provision of a watch case and 01 fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown, a sleeve of deformable material fitted coaxially between the crown and the pendant, means for securing both edges of the sleeve to one of the cooperating members, the crown and the pendant, to form with said memher an annular chamber and means enclosed in said chamber for urging radially the medial section of the sleeve extending between said sleeve edges against the other member.

2. In a watch, the provision of a watch case and of fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown, a sleeve of deformable material fitted round the outer end of the pendant and secured to the latter through its outer edges to form therewith an annular chamber extending between the medial section of the sleeve and the peripheral surface of the pendant and means enclosed in said chamber urging the medial section of the sleeve against the cooperating surface of the crown.

3. In a watch, the provision of a watch case and of fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown a sleeve of deformable material fitted round the outer end of the pendant, two clamping rings urging the outer edges of the sleeve against the cooperating parts of the peripheral surface of the pendant to form with the latter an annular chamber extending between the medial section of the sleeve and the peripheral surface of the pendant and means enclosed in said chamber urging the medial section of the sleeve against the coopcrating surface of the crown.

4. in a watch, the provision of a watch case and of fluidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown, a sleeve of deformable material fitted coaxially between the crown and the pendant, means for securing arsena both edges of the sleeve to one of the cooperating members, 'the crown and the pendant, to form with said member an annular chamber and means enclosed in said chamber for urging radially the medial section of the sleeve extending between said sleeve edges against the other member, said means deforming the sleeve into an annular bead formation in fiuidtight contact with said other member.

5. In a watch, the provision of a watch case and of fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown, a sleeve of deformable material fitted coaxially between the crown and the pendant, means for securing both edges of the sleeve to one of the cooperating members, the crown and the pendant, to form with said member an annular chamber and a split ring housed inside said annular chamber and acting radially and elastically on the sleeve to deform its medial section and to urge it tightly against the second member.

6. In a watch, the provision of a watch case and of fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case, and extending axially inside the crown, a sleeve of deformable material fitted coaxially between the crown and the pendant, means for securing both edges of the sleeve to one of the cooperating members, the crown and the pendant, to form with said member an annular chamber and a split ring housed inside said annular chamber and acting radially and elastically on the sleeve to deform its medial section and to urge it tightly against the second member, the two ends of the split ring overlapping each other to prevent any lack of continuity in the radial pressure exerted by the ring on the sleeve.

7. In a watch, the provision of a watch case and of fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown, a sleeve of deformable material fitted coaxially between the crown and the pendant, means for securing both edges of the sleeve to one of the cooperating members, the crown and the pendant, to form with said member an annular chamber and a solid ring of elastic material housed inside said annular chamber and engaging elastically the second member with the interposition of the medial section of the sleeve.

8. In a watch, the provision of a watch case and of fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown, a sleeve of deformable material fitted coaxially between the crown and the pendant, means for securing both edges of the sleeve to one of the cooperating members, the crown and the pendant, to form with said member an annular chamber and means for introducing fluid under pressure inside said chamber, the pressure of said fluid under pressure urging the sleeve radially against the second member.

9. In a watch, the provision of a watch case and of fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown, a sleeve of deformable material fitted coaxially between the crown and the pendant, means for securing both edges of the sleeve to one of the cooperating members, the crown and the pendant, to form with said memher an annular chamber, means for introducing an elastic fluid under pressure into said chamber through the first member and a solid ring of elastic material normally closing last mentioned means to hold the annular chamber filled with the fluid under pressure filling same and to make said fluid urge the sleeve radially against the second member.

10. In a watch, the prow'sion of a watch case and of fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown, one of the members, the crown and the pendant, being provided with an annular recess coaxial therewith,

a sleeve secured to last mentioned member substantially at equal distances to either side of said annular recess and forming with the latter an annular chamber and means inside said chamber urging the medial section of the sleeve into engagement with the other of the two above-mentioned members.

11. In a watch, the provision of a watch case and of fiuidtight winding means comprising a crown, a pendant engaging the watch case and extending axially inside the crown, one of the members, the crown and the pendant being provided with an annular recess coaxial therewith a sleeve secured to last mentioned member substantially at equal distances to either side of said annular recess and forming with the latter an annular chamber, the parts of the first member to which the sleeve is secured being thicker than the remainder of said member and defining between them the location of the annular recess in the first member, and means inside said chamber urging the medial section of the sleeve into engagement with the other of the two above-mentioned members.

No references cited. 

